Is there an aircraft that is the most realistic, most visually appealing etc.. that stands out above the rest? E.g. the TBM? 

The 152

Honestly, I feel like it’s the 172. The attention to detail is good, and the checklist is more complete.

Both the 152 and the 172 seem very sound to me, for default aircraft. 

58 minutes ago, dolbinau said:

Is there an aircraft that is the most realistic, most visually appealing etc.. that stands out above the rest? E.g. the TBM? 

Not the TBM or any of the turboprops until turboprop modeling improves, and that may need 3rd party payware. 

I'd say the 152 and 172 for now.

C172, C152, DA40, TBM!

From an older development update.

Quote

We added the full source for the DA62 aircraft as a more complex example that third party developers can inspect and learn from.

Perhaps this is the aircraft that Asobo would consider as the simulator's flagship.

Yes, ironically considering the package contains the 747-8 and 787 it’s the little 152 and 172 that steal the show for seasoned simmers 

for me its the cubs.  

For me it is the C172 - at this stage

152, 172 Steam version and 172 G1000

Edited August 26, 20205 yr by Nyxx

I agree, C152, 172 and I'd throw in the 182 just for giggles.

I've honestly flown more in the 152 in this iteration. The 172 has a weird look left, where its angled down instead of seeing the bottom of the wing.

Edited August 26, 20205 yr by Lotharen

172 , over all pretty nice. Although not being able to open the doors is a let down,

Despite my screen name I've been spending most of my time VFR in the steam gauge 172 and the SR22.   They seem to be the most polished aircraft and the most fun to fly.  I wonder if this is because there are more 172 and SR22 pilots out there than for the other aircraft?  The Zin Shock Ultra is also a lot of fun for up close sightseeing but is very bare bones feature wise.    Note for new simmers: It's very important to manually trim the pitch on all of these after takeoff for a good flying experience.

A few random notes:

- The classic 172 panel looks shockingly beautiful at night, like "I can't believe this is just a simulator" (I"m using a 40" Samsung 4k tv about 2 feet in front of me).

- The SR22 cockpit is also nicely done, with standby gauges having the same realism as the classic 172 panel.  Sometimes I have been able to get Nexrad radar on the secondary display which is nice.  The engine sound on the SR22 is probably the most realistic of all the aircraft.  

- For long-haul IFR flights The 747-8 is my favorite once I figured out workarounds for the many autopilot bugs (posted on the tips and tricks section).   Certainly not a flagship with the current problems but I'm really impressed with all of the cockpit lighting controls in the 747.  For best effect turn off all of the flood/dome/panel/map floodlights, and dial down all of the LCD and instrument panel backlights to just a few clicks above minimum.  Look carefully, there are a LOT of cockpit lighting dials and most of them have two separate controls nested in one.  The 747 definitely needs new engine sounds however.   No rumble, no roar behind the engines, no buzzsaw (at appropriate speeds) in front or in the cockpit.

- All aircraft need better wind noise, but especially the fast airliners.

2 hours ago, Cognita said:

Both the 152 and the 172 seem very sound to me, for default aircraft. 

They have their fair share of issues too though. Hopefully they get ironed out.

For the 172, fuel flow is messed up, mixture passes full rich and then begins to lower fuel flow as you increase the axis, amp meter shows discharge and charge flipped, engine starts flawlessly every time for some reason, and fuel cutoff defaults to off and mixture defaults to full rich in the cold and dark setting.